1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a machine for harvesting crops, and more particularly to an improved crop divider provided at the end of a harvesting platform to divide the crop that is to be harvested from the standing crop.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Crop dividers are well known in the art and are provided so that the leading end projects into the crops as the harvesting machine approaches those crops. The dividers are located at each end of the harvesting platform and force crops to be harvested into the harvesting platform while protecting the end of the harvesting platform from those crops which are not harvested. This is intended to prevent the ends of the harvesting platform, particularly the cutter reel, from being jammed up with tangled crops. When tangled crops do jam up the operation of the harvester, the operator is required to make frequent stops to remove them, thereby greatly reducing efficiency.
One type of crop divider which has heretofore been used consists of a double wall divider having separate inner and outer surfaces which flare apart away from the leading edge. Examples of this type of divider may be found in Mott U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,439, Kluck U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,454 and Wilkes et al. U.S. Pat. No. 1,688,137. With these dividers, the inner wall forces crops toward the harvesting platform while the outer wall forces the standing crop away from the end of the harvesting platform. However, because the inner wall is adjacent the end of the cutter reel, it only forces the crops near the end of the cutter reel. This still can result in crops entangling in the end of the reel and in other harvester mechanisms as well.
Other crop dividers such as disclosed in Jones U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,337 use only a single wall divider and a curved leading surface divides the crops as it passes through them. However, once the leading surface passes the crops, they are divided only by a single wall, enabling the crops on both sides of the divider to occasionally become tangled again. Also, those which have used a single wall, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,337, have curved the leading surface outward so that, as with the double wall dividers, the harvested crops are only forced near the end of the cutter reel. Accordingly, some crops still are occasionally entangled in the end of the cutter reel.